A Brothers Bond
by Carol3059
Summary: This is a sequel to Brothers since I had so many people ask me for one. Dean and Sam's newly forming bond is tested to the limit when Sam disapears without a trace.
1. Chapter 1

Note: Okay, so I actually had a lot of people ask me for a sequel to Brothers, so here it is. Hope you like it. This starts about a month after Brothers ended. Sorry this chapter is so short, but it's just basically a teaser to set the story up. 

In a month on the road again with Dean, Sam had seen a change in his older brother that was astounding. Dean hadn't turned a complete one-eighty, he was still a little closed off and didn't like to talk about things much, but he was still better.

Sam had noticed the first time he was on the road with Dean that the face he had shone in public, that smirking, cocky guy was all fake. Sam had seen that for himself. But now Sam was seeing more and more of that guy and this time it wasn't fake. Sam had seen amusement dancing in Dean's eyes more than once that was genuine (most times when he was teasing Sam or flirting with every woman in the immediate vicinity).

Sam was very happy that Dean was getting better. Dean and Sam were actually boding in a way that Sam had at one time thought might not be possible. They still had the demon to worry about and Sam still hadn't told Dean about his visions. He was a little worried about how Dean would react to them.

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Dean was actually happy. Happier than he had been since he was kid. He liked traveling with Sam, having someone there to watch his back that actually cared. They still kept in touch with Bobby. Dean was beginning to feel almost normal.

It was one month and a day after Dean and Sam were back on the road that something happened to test that newly forming bond.

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Dean woke up in the motel room in Louisiana that they had gotten the night before. He stumbled out of bed, not even looking around. He was halfway to the bathroom when he noticed it. Sam's bed was empty.

Dean looked around the room. Sam's shoes were sitting on top of his bag beside his bed and his cell phone was still on the table in the middle. Dean's heart sped up. The door to the bathroom was open. Sam wasn't in there.

Dean ran outside, not caring that he was only in a pair of boxers and his undershirt. The Impala was still parked, untouched in the driveway. Dean stood there for a few moments, feeling panic rage wildly in his heart. Sam was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean stood still for a few moments, stunned. Finally his brain seemed to kick back on when he realized that he wasn't doing any good to Sam by just standing there. 

He looked around himself, trying to find some trace of Sam or whoever or whatever took him. He found something on the frame of the door that made his heart speed up again. There was a small amount of blood there, like Sam had hit his head. Dean searched the rest of the parking lot but didn't find anything. He didn't notice or care when some of the other people from the motel came out and looked at him odd because he was searching rather frantically still in his boxers and under shirt.

Not finding anything else in the parking lot, Dean went back into the motel room. He pulled on a pair of pants and searched the room as well, but didn't find anything. He figured he wouldn't, though, if this thing took Sam while he was outside.

Dean knew that Sam sometimes went outside in the middle of the night, sometimes just to sit or he took his computer with him. Dean could guess why, too. He thought that Sam just found the motel room a little suffocating after he woke up sometimes. And he had the suspicion that Sam didn't want to wake him up too.

Dean put on his jacket, intending to go look for Sam. He really hoped whatever took Sam was still in town. He would just have to search, he guessed. He really wish he had more to go on, though.

Dean was pretty sure that it wasn't the demon, though. If it had been the demon that killed his mom and Sam's girlfriend Dean doubted he would have found the blood on the doorframe.

He didn't know whether to be relieved or not about that. He didn't know how to fight that demon, how to kill it, and the thing was powerful, he knew that. After all, it had to be. It was almost impossible to track. But he also knew that this thing wanted Sam for something. It was frightening, that this demon wanted his brother for something, but Dean knew it was true. Why else would it have gone after Jessica, and their mom?

Dean never voiced these suspicions out loud, though. He knew that Sam had them too, but Dean didn't want to add to his brothers pain. He figured Sam already felt guilty enough about Jessica's death.

On the other hand if this was something else, then it might be to late to save Sam at all. Dean shook his head at that thought. There was no way he was even going to entertain that idea. He was going to get Sam back, and whatever took him was going to die, painfully.

Dean gathered up his and Sam's things as fast as he could and headed out. He jumped in the Impala and considered dialing Bobby. The man was at least three days away, though. He was on his own at this one.

Dean figured that if the thing was still in town that it would be holed up some place that was abandoned. Someplace that wouldn't have any people. Dean really hoped it was still in town.

Dean considered briefly that whatever took Sam wanted to be found. That he could be setting himself up for a trap, but he figured it didn't really matter. He still had to find Sam.

Fortunately, this town wasn't huge. There was only a few places that they could be. Dean didn't know what he was dealing with so he got out his pistol and tucked it into the back of his pants. He put a bottle of holy water in his front pocket and carried a shotgun filled with rock salt.

He would search this entire town and the rest of the country if that was what it took to find Sam.

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Sam woke up slowly. He tried to move but couldn't. When he opened his eyes, he found out why. He was in a dingy looking room tied to a chair in the middle of it. He was still in his night clothes. He groaned at the pounding in his head.

"Looks like someone's awake finally." Sam looked up and met the eyes of a man. He was tall with dark eyes and hair. Sam didn't like the look in the man's eyes, though.

"Who are you?" Sam asked, struggling against the ropes that bound him to the chair. "Why did you do this?" The man grinned a little.

"You'll find out soon enough, Sam." The man said, coming forward. His grin widened a little. "You know, I'll bet your brother is looking for you right now. I had originally intended to just take him, but then I find out that he has a long lost brother that he is traveling with. One that John gave up."

"You know John?" Sam asked.

"Oh, yes, I know John. But that doesn't matter at the moment. What does matter is that Dean is on his way here, I'm sure. He'll search everywhere for you, wont he?"

"And he'll kill you for this."

"I don't think so, Sam. You see, I'll be prepared for Dean." The man grinned again and Sam saw the crazed light dancing in his eyes.

"If you hurt my brother, I'll kill you myself." Sam vowed.

"And how are you going to manage that, Sam?" The man gave Sam one last smile before walking out of the room, leaving the door open.

Sam struggled against the ropes even more fiercely. He had to get out. Before Dean found him. Then Sam felt it. The arm of the chair on his left was a little loose. Sam smiled a little and gripped the edge of the arm rest and yanked on it with all the strength he had. He felt it loosen a little bit more.

Sam glanced up at the door every few seconds to make sure that the guy wasn't coming back. He wasn't. He was waiting for Dean to get here. Sam gritted his teeth when the ropes dug painfully into his wrist and pulled harder on the arm rest. Unfortunately this action tipped the chair backwards and Sam found himself on his back, still attached to the chair.

Sam forced himself to continue, though. He still had to get out of here. Sam froze, however when he heard something outside of the room. A loud thud reached Sam's ears and his heart sped up. Sam tried to see around the chair when he heard the guy entering the room again, only this time it sounded like he was dragging something heavy behind him.

"Looks like someone's being naughty." The guy said. He went around to Sam's head and grinned down at him, before lifting the chair back up to a sitting position. Sam's eyes widened when he took in Dean's unconscious form on the floor before him. The man grinned at him.

"Don't worry, Sam. I'm not going to kill him, yet." He put a boot to Dean, rolling him over on his back and pulled out some more rope. He tied Dean's hands behind his back and tied his feet together.

"Now, you boys don't have to much fun." He said, walking to the door. He closed it and a second later Sam heard something heavy scraping across the floor and setting in front of the door. Sam looked down at his brother. They were trapped, and who knows what the guy wanted.

Note: I know that Dean and Sam meeting again was really fast, but I do have a plan for this story that involves that. Hope you liked it.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: I am so sorry about this. I know I usually update faster than this, but I actually had some trouble with this story. I know I said I had a plan for it but then I started questioning it and yeah, now I'm rambling. Anyways, hope you like what I decided on. 

"Dean!" Sam struggled with the ropes on the chair while trying to get Dean to wake up. Blood was leaking slowly from the wound on the back of Dean's head, and Sam was terrified that he was hurt badly. Sam was about to start working on the chair again when Dean groaned and moved his head.

"Dean?" Sam felt a flood of relief when Dean opened his eyes and struggled onto his side, but he didn't like the hazy look to Dean's eyes when they finally locked on Sam's.

"Hey." Dean said, his voice a little rough.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Oh, I'm great, Sammy." Dean struggled into a sitting position. Sam saw him wince and squint his eyes, but at least they looked a little more clear.

"We gotta get out of here."

"No shit, really?" Sam rolled his eyes a little.

"Could you stop being a jerk and help me find a way, then?" Dean's eyes scanned the room. Sam presumed for something he could use to get the ropes off his arm. Dean frowned suddenly and looked up at Sam.

"What?"

"You think this guy wants us to get out. I mean, he could have tied my hands a lot tighter." To proved this point Dean lifted himself off the ground a little and began working his hands down. He moved his arms down his legs and lifted them and pulled them closer to himself to get his hands clear and in front of himself finally. Sam watched as he began working on the knots on his feet.

"Maybe he doesn't care if we get out of the ropes." Sam said as Dean got his legs untied and shuffled over to Sam. "Maybe he just wants us stuck in the room." Dean glanced around the room as he untied Sam's right arm.

"Maybe. No window or anything." Sam nodded, untying himself the rest of the way and then Dean's wrists. Sam stood up and grimaced at the tingling feeling in his legs.

Dean stood as well and went over to the door. He pushed it experimentally.

"He pushed something pretty heavy in front of it." Sam said. Dean nodded.

"So, how the hell to we get out?" Dean asked, the question directed partly to Sam and partly to himself. Sam shrugged.

"Wait till the guy comes back?" Sam suggested. "Maybe we could take him by surprise."

"Yeah, unless he plans on letting us starve in here."

"Maybe I should look at that first." Sam said, gesturing to the wound on Dean's head.

"I'm fine." Dean said, shaking his head. "I think we got bigger problems." Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed Dean's head so he could look at the wound.

"Sam!" Dean grumbled but didn't pull back, resigning himself.

"It's stopped bleeding." Sam said. He ripped a piece of his shirt and wiped away the blood. "Doesn't look like it needs stitches, either. Your lucky." Sam released Dean, who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, lucky." Dean shook his head, looking around the room. "More like stupid." Dean said the last part to himself quietly but Sam still caught it.

"Your not stupid, Dean."

"I let the guy get the drop on me, Sam!"

"So did I. You calling me stupid?" Sam asked with mock anger. Dean shrugged uncomfortably.

"That's different. I knew someone or something would be here." Sam rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"You always feel guilty about things you can't control?" Dean turned to Sam.

"Do you?" Sam stopped short, and looked down. He knew what Dean was talking about. Hell, he was still having nightmares about Jess.

"Look we're wasting time, here." Dean said. "We need to find a way out." Sam nodded, pushing down the hurt and looking around again. Unfortunately the guy had them boxed in. He didn't know how they were going to get out.

Note: I know this chapter isn't very long, sorry. But like I said, I had a little trouble with it. I promise, now that I got where I'm going with it down, that I'll update the next one faster.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam sat on the floor of the house, staring across at his brother, sitting against the wall on the opposite side. They had tried everything they could think of to get out of here, but the guy had locked the place up good. They were trapped. 

"So, what do you think this guy could have against John, anyways?" Sam finally said, breaking the silence. Dean looked over at him and shrugged.

"Who knows." He frowned. "It could have been anything. I haven't really hunted with dad since I was seventeen." Sam nodded, contemplating everything for a few minutes.

"Damn, I can't believe that we can't find a way out of here." Dean said.

"Yeah." Sam tilted his head to the side. "You think the guy'll come back?" Dean shrugged.

"Don't know. Maybe he does want to just leave us in here to die."

"But why do that? I mean, if he wants us dead, why not just kill us? Why run the risk that we could find a way out?" Dean shrugged, then gave a humorless smile.

"Because he wants us to suffer, maybe." Sam nodded uncomfortably. He wasn't exactly scared, not yet. They hadn't been here long, and he was sure that they would find a way to get out.

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An hour later, they were no closer to getting out. Sam had moved across the room to sit beside Dean. They had been talking for a while. In fact Sam was pretty sure that they had been talking more in the past hour than they had since they had met.

"My mom was really angry." Sam was saying, recounting a story from when he was in high school, of the only time he had ever ditched. "It wasn't even my idea." Dean snorted.

"Yeah, well, I could believe that." Sam mock scowled at Dean but then fell silent. Thinking about those days only made him think about the fact that his parents weren't there anymore. Dean watched him for a moment.

"Sorry, man." He said. Sam looked up surprised and then smiled a little.

"Thanks." Sam fidgeted a little for a few minutes.

"What was your mom like?" He finally asked. Dean flinched a little bit and looked away. Sam chewed his lip. He didn't know anything about Mary Winchester, and he did want to know about the woman who had given birth to him. Dean stayed quiet for a few minutes and Sam realized that that question probably hurt his brother and decided that if Dean didn't answer that he wouldn't ask again.

"She was great. Beautiful." Dean said quietly just when Sam was giving up on an answer. "She loved you a lot." Dean fell silent again. Sam looked away and felt tears prick the back of his eyes, but forced them away. It was strange, hearing about a woman, his mother, that he had never known. He looked over at his brother, who was staring out now.

"You think John would come look for us if he found out we were missing?" Sam asked. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Are we really getting into this discussion now?"

"Dean..." Dean sighed in frustration.

"I don't know, Sammy. Maybe." He stopped for a moment, looking thoughtful. "He came looking for me when I left at seventeen." Sam's eyebrows raised.

"Really? What happened?" Dean smiled a little.

"Bobby pulled a shotgun on him." Sam's eyes widened a little.

"Your kidding." Dean shook his head, smirking a little. Though, Sam couldn't help but notice that Dean's eyes had darkened a little. They always did when John came up.

"Look, can we cut the emo stuff, college boy? I'm gonna be sick." Sam shook his head a little, sighing.

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It was nearly an hour later after a lot more traded stories that stayed mostly away from the emotional stuff when they finally got an answer to why the guy had them in here. The guy did not come in, but actually slipped a note under the door. Dean scowled a little.

"What is this, high school?" He grumbled as Sam picked up the note. "What's it say?" Sam scowled as well at the piece of paper as he read it.

"'Hope your having fun in there boys. Don't worry, I've laid the groundwork for someone to find you. If they don't...well, dying from dehydration isn't pretty, is it? I think you should hope that your daddy does care about you after all.'" Sam looked up at Dean who's eyes were wide now.

"Oh, this is just great."


	5. Chapter 5

Sam groaned when he felt it. It was shortly after they had received the note from the guy who had them here when he felt the pain explode in his head. It was a familiar pain of a migraine that he sometimes had after one of his nightmares, only this one was much stronger. 

Sam groaned and grabbed his head, bending over as the pain peeked.

"Sammy?" He vaguely heard Dean call to him and felt him grab his shoulders and then the images flashed through his head.

_John walked into the house, Bobby behind him_, Sam reached out and gripped Dean's shirt. _The man who had them stood there, gun in hand. He aimed the gun and cocked it_. Sam groaned as the images flicked through his mind. One minute he was looking into his brothers worried gaze and the next..._The gunshot was loud and hit it's mark. Sam watched in horror as Dean collapsed. Blood sprayed on the wall behind him, and a hole appeared in the center of his forehead. The man grinned._

"No!" Sam slammed back into reality.

"Sam?" Dean was sitting in front of him, holding onto his shoulders. Sam was aware that he was still gripping the front of Dean's shirt and let it go.

"What the hell was that?" Dean asked, the concern not leaving his eyes. Sam squinted a little. His head was pounding and he felt a wave of revulsion and terror at the vision.

"Sammy?"

"I'm alright." Sam said, forcing himself to smile a little. Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that's good. Are you going to tell me what just happened?"

"Um, headache?" Dean sat back and stared at Sam, his eyes narrowed a little. Sam fought the urge to fidget under his brothers gaze.

"Just a headache?"

"Yes." Sam nodded and then wished he hadn't because his head was still pounding a little bit. Dean just stared at him for a few moments, an unreadable expression on his face before he sat back against the wall again and stared out at the room.

Sam chewed his lip as the silence stretched and his headache faded some. It was still a shocking vision and the first one he had ever had while awake. He didn't really know how he felt about that one. Was he going to be having these all the time?

Sam glanced over at his brother. Dean had a troubled look on his face and Sam knew he had put it there. He wondered if Dean thought he didn't trust him or something. After a while of silence from Dean, Sam sighed, exasperated.

"John and Bobby are coming." Sam blurted out, and then he winced. Damn, that definitely wasn't the way he had wanted Dean to find out his secret. Dean looked over at him, frowning now.

"What?" Sam nodded, extremely nervous now.

"Their coming and they will find us."

"How do you know that?" Sam chewed his lip again.

"I saw it."

"You saw it?" Dean said, concern now showing in his eyes.

"Sometimes I have these dreams. Nightmares really."

"Yeah, Sammy. Everyone has nightmares." Sam scowled a little at Dean.

"Yeah, except sometimes my nightmares come true." Dean stared at him, his face once again unreadable, and Sam wished he knew what Dean was thinking.

"I dreamt about Jess dieing before it happened. That was the first time." Sam continued. "I just thought they were nightmares. I didn't think-" Sam shook his head, cutting himself off. "I dreamt that the shape shifter in Missouri killed you. And it almost happened too." Dean's eyes widened slightly.

"So, wait. Your saying you found me in Missouri because of some dream you had of the future?" Sam nodded. Dean settled back into the wall and stared out again, once again quiet. Sam wished that he would say something. Finally he did, but it wasn't what Sam had expected.

"You know it wasn't your fault, right?" Sam looked over at his brother, surprised.

"What?"

"What happened to Jess. You know it wasn't your fault, right?" Sam looked down, feeling the guilt that had basically been a constant companion for him since Jess had died well up.

"I could have stopped it. I mean, hell, I stopped you from dieing. I could have helped her, too."

"How? Look, Sam, you said it yourself. You thought it was a nightmare. Anyone would have. Besides, it wasn't some shape shifter that killed Jess. It was _the_ demon. You really think that if that thing wanted Jess dead, you could have stopped it?" Sam sat back, stunned. He was thoroughly surprised when some of his guilt eased. He looked over at his brother, astounded.

"Thanks, Dean." Dean grinned at him.

"No problem, Sammy." They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Dean broke it with a question that brought back all of Sam's worry.

"You see anything else? I mean, besides dad and Bobby?"

"No." Sam said immediately, firmly. He would not tell Dean about that vision, but he would prevent it. No matter what.

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Bobby Singer was out in his salvage yard when he got a phone call from someone he had been sure would never call him again. He opened his phone.

"What do you want, John?"

"I want you to tell me where my boys are, Singer."

"What makes you think I would do that? After what happened the last time you were here?"

"You'll do it. I sent you a picture, Bobby. Check it out." Bobby did so and his face paled a little. The picture showed a room with no windows. The only thing occupying it was a chair in the center with Sam tied to it. Bobby could also make out the unconscious form of Dean lying at Sam's feet.

"What the hell is this?" Bobby growled.

"I'll tell you what this is. Some psycho's taken the boys, and wants me to come and get them. Do you know where they were hunting last." Bobby hesitating in answering, but no matter how much he disliked John he doubted the man would ever actually hurt Sam or Dean, at least physically.

"Yeah, I know where they are. I'll meet you there."


	6. Chapter 6

John and Bobby met up in town. They didn't say much to each other, though. John found himself in a bit of a weird place. He knew this was a trap. His boys were in trouble, though. And while he would never be father of the year, he couldn't ignore that. 

On the drive down here, John had mostly been thinking about Dean. It was different, this time. His son had nearly died so many times growing up, but this was different. This was deliberate. Someone was deliberately trying to hurt Dean, and Sam, this time.

John wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment. He knew that the way he had treated Dean growing up was wrong, but he hadn't been able to force himself to do better in the wake of losing Mary and giving up Sam.

He had lost count of the times he had promised himself that he would do better when Dean was very young, only to end up breaking them. While they were searching the town for the building that Dean and Sam were being held in, Bobby was giving him piercing looks, like he knew what John was thinking.

"You want get your head in the game, John. We're probably walking into a trap here." John scowled at Bobby but his reply was cut off when they saw the Impala parked in front of an abandoned looking house on the outside of town.

They parked down the street and pulled out two pistols, and began walking warily up to the house.

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Sam and Dean had been talking quietly when they heard something coming from outside of the room. The distinctive scraping noise of someone coming inside. They jumped to their feet and flanked the door warily.

Sam felt a pang of worry as they waited. He knew the guy had a gun, and not just from his vision. He watched the door open slowly.

Sam had to stop himself from attacking when John collapsed through the door. Sam drew in a sharp breath when she realized that blood was soaking through John's right pant leg.

"Get back, both of you." The guy's voice came from the hallway. "Unless you want to see your daddy's brains splattered on the floor. Sam and Dean both reluctantly backed to the other side of the room.

Sam felt panic rise in him at the familiar formation from his vision. The man stepped into the room and over John's unconscious form. He raised his gun and pointed it at Sam and then Dean.

"Why are you doing this?" Sam asked, trying to buy some time.

"Doesn't really matter, Sam." The man said with a grin. "All that matters is that when Johnny here wakes up, all he's going to find is his son's corpse." He kept his gun pointed at Dean. He cocked the gun.

"Maybe then he'll learn his lesson."

"Wait!" Sam yelled, stepping closer to Dean and making the guy point the gun at him instead.

"Don't move."

"If you do this, you'll be hunted down." Sam said. The man seemed to contemplate this for a moment before he shrugged.

"I'm willing to take the risk." Sam inched closer to Dean, feeling a little helpless as the man squeezed the trigger.

At the last moment the guy gave a cry when Sam saw the now conscious John grab his leg and pull. The guy's shot went wide and buried itself in the wall above Dean instead of his head.

Dean, seemingly unfazed by his near brush with death, surged forward with surprising speed and tackled the man the rest of the way to the ground on the other side of John. Dean and the man rolled on the ground.

Sam felt his fear spike again. He knew the man still had the gun, but he couldn't see it. It was obviously in-between his brother and the man.

Sam flinched when the gun went off once, and then twice. His brother was on top of the man and Sam went over to him. He let out a relieved breath when Dean pulled himself up. The man was staring at the ceiling, unseeing. He was dead, finally.

Sam turned briefly to John, who was struggling into a sitting position. Sam wondered briefly where Bobby was before he noticed something about Dean that gave him pause. There was a large amount of blood on the front of Dean's shirt.

"You okay?" Sam asked, hoping it was just the man's blood. Dean touched his shirt, and stared at his hand when it came away bloody.

"I don't think so." He said thickly, and then he collapsed backwards.


	7. Chapter 7

Note: Okay, guys, this is my last chapter. Hope you like it. 

_Dean's body hit the ground with a thud and Sam sprang up and ran over to him. Sam knelt beside his brother. He watched the pain in his brothers eyes, and Sam felt tears in his eyes, but he didn't try to stop them._

_Dean looked up at him and Sam could see it in his eyes. He was fading fast and Sam didn't know what to do. Sam took Dean's hand and his brother squeezed his almost painfully._

_"Sorry." Dean whispered. Sam shook his head frantically as his brothers breathing slowed down. Dean stared up at Sam as his breathing slowed even more and then he let out one final breath and didn't breathe anymore._

_"No." Sam said, shaking his head frantically again and still staring into his brothers green eyes. "No no no. Dean! Come, on man, no." But his brother simply stared at him, unseeing._

"No!" Sam sat strait up in the tiny bed, his heart beating wildly. He sat there for a few moments, his heart beating wildly, and then he sprang from the bed and sprinted for the bathroom. He dropped next to the toilet and expelled everything in his stomach. When he was done, he rinsed his mouth out and faced the mirror.

Sam stared at his reflection. He had to admit he looked horrible. He scrubbed his face warily. Tears sprang to his eyes once again as he thought back to his nightmare.

Sam couldn't believe that it was all over. He sighed as he walked out of the bathroom. He glanced briefly around the tiny motel room. Despite the size of the room, it still seemed almost unbearably empty without Dean.

Sam looked down at himself, wondering if he looked presentable enough to go. Then he decided that he just didn't care how he looked. He couldn't stay here another minute. He went out and hopped into the Impala.

As he drove, images sprang to Sam's mind against his will. Images from his nightmares. He hadn't been able to think of much else for the past few days. Finally he parked the car and walked up to the hospital.

Sam walked slowly through the halls, and stopped outside of the room. He smiled a little when he heard a nurse talking. He stepped into the doorway.

"Annoying the staff again?" He asked. Dean's head snapped in his direction and he smiled, though he looked slightly concerned.

"I thought I told you to go get some sleep." Dean said calmly, smiling at the nurse as she left.

"I did." Sam said defensively.

"Uh huh." Dean said, looking him over a little. Sam just shrugged and sat down in the chair beside Dean's bed. Nightmares were normal, after all. Dean hadn't died in that room, in fact the bullet had missed doing any major damage but that didn't stop Sam's nightmares that it hadn't missed.

"How's dad?" Dean asked, breaking Sam out of his thoughts and changing the subject.

"He's fine." Sam shrugged. "Getting released today." Dean simply nodded, looking thoughtful. John had taken a bullet to the leg and a bump to the head, but he was going to be fine. Sam hadn't really gone to see the man, and John hadn't come to see Dean yet. Sam hoped that John would at least talk to Dean before he disappeared again.

"Feeling better, kid?" A gruff voice said from the doorway. Sam and Dean both looked up to see Bobby in the doorway.

"Feelin' like I want out of here." Dean said. Bobby smiled a little. Sam grinned a little as well. Dean had been getting a little on the restless side. He hated hospitals. Bobby and Sam were the only ones not seriously hurt though.

It turned out that the man had set a trap for Bobby and John that had worked. The man, who Sam had learned was named Scott Reed, had actually loosened some of the floorboards in the house. Bobby had actually fallen through and was damn lucky that all he got was some bruises and a concussion.

John had nearly fallen through himself but hadn't. It had caused enough of a distraction for Reed to get the drop on John, though. Sam was just very grateful that they were all going to be alright.

Of course, they still didn't really know why Reed had done all of this. Mostly because John hadn't left his room yet.

A noise from the doorway snapped Sam's head in that direction, though. Sam swallowed. John was standing in the doorway. Dean stared at his father, his face unreadable. He took in the fact that John was wearing jeans.

"Your leaving?" Sam glanced at Dean, and stared at John, wondering about the implications of that question, knowing Dean didn't just mean the hospital.

"Yeah. I'm leaving." John said quietly. Dean simply nodded and laid his head back.

"I suppose you all want to know about Reed." John said. "I knew his brother." He said, not waiting for them to answer. "They were both hunters. Reed's brother and I were on a hunt that went sideways. He ended up dead." John sighed a little. "I suppose Reed always held a grudge for that." John stared at both of his sons for a moment.

"You know what, I think I'll go get some coffee." Bobby said suddenly, leaving the room. For several minutes, John said nothing. Sam thought he looked like he was struggling with himself.

"I'm sorry, boys." He finally said. Dean's head snapped to John and Sam could clearly see the shock in his brothers eyes. John turned resolutely to Sam.

"I'm sorry that I gave you up, that I couldn't take care of you. I'm sorry for the things I said after finding out who you were." He turned to Dean. "I'm so sorry, Dean, for everything I did and didn't do when you were child." Dean stared at his father, his eyes wide and his mouth open a little. John nodded once and then turned and walked out of the room.

Sam watched Dean for a few minutes.

"You okay, Dean?" Dean was quiet for a moment and Sam thought Dean's eyes actually looked a little liquid. Then he blinked and a slow smile crept to his face.

"Yeah, 'course I am." Then he scowled at Sam. "I want out of here, though, Sam. You going to get me out?" Sam laughed and patted his brother on the leg before getting up.

"I'll see what I can do." He said, walking out of the room with a smile on his face.


End file.
